Consensus is the story here, not conflict. Three in four voters backed the government's push to knit together health, social care and community services, a scale of agreement this platform rarely produces on anything touching Whitehall spending decisions.
What texture there is comes from age, and it runs backwards from the usual script: the youngest voters were nearly unanimous, the 65-and-overs firmly onside too, while it was the 55-64s, closer to the sharp end of social care themselves, who supplied the most sceptical bloc, albeit still a clear majority in favour. Men and women voted in near-identical proportions, leaving gender essentially silent on this one.
That the scepticism came from the middle rather than the extremes echoes the plan's own political problem — Treasury doubts about value for money sitting awkwardly against Stevens's case for integration, with May reaching for a post-Brexit domestic legacy. Voters here, unlike the Treasury, were not much troubled by the price tag.
If May wanted proof of appetite beyond Brexit, this chamber gave her one.
1 Opinion
The NHS is not fit for purpose ! Just like the Home Office both need to be completely nulled and rebuilt a total overhaul is needed. Get rid of the suits , employ English doctors and nurses and employ matrons!